The sport of skateboarding was originally born by surfers who had a desire to practice their surfing balance and technique when there were no waves or simply as an alternate mode of transportation. As skateboarding has evolved, two primary types of skateboards are now offered by retailers. The first is a ‘trick skate’ which is commonly seen in skateparks and halfpipes as a short symmetrical board which can be flipped around by the rider to perform various maneuvers/tricks. The second is a ‘longboard’ which is used primarily for transportation rather than the maneuvers/tricks which are commonly performed on a trick skate. The longboard is typically longer than the trick skate and is not usually a symmetrical shape. The additional length of the longboard results in a more stable ride, which lends itself nicely to high speed travel over long distances.
As the sport of surfing continued to evolve, the sport of stand up paddleboards (SUP) has now become popular. In traditional surfing, the rider must travel across the water by paddling with their arms and when it's time to catch the wave, must stand up on the board while maintaining their balance and speed. This can be difficult to do, especially for new surfers or surfers who lack strength in their arms and shoulders. With SUP, the rider is already standing on the board and uses a paddle to actually maneuver across the water and catch a wave. Once in position, the wave is easier to catch and ride as the rider is already in the riding position.
In typical longboard skateboarding, the rider propels the longboard by ‘pumping’ or leaving one foot on the board while pushing against the ground with the other foot. At higher rates of speed, this technique is not desirable by longboarders as you may lose your balance and you also have very limited turning/edging control while pumping. The SUP technique has now been adopted by the longboard skateboarders and is sometimes referred to as ‘land paddling.’ In this technique, the user holds an elongate member (similar to the paddle for a SUP) in their hands and makes contact with the ground using this elongate member rather than their foot. This technique is desirable for longboard skateboarders as it allows them to keep both feet on the deck and control the turning of the board while increasing their speed.
In the existing devices used for land paddling, there has not been an adequate connection between the elongate member and the ground. To be effective at all, many of the prior devices require that the ‘tip’ of the elongate member is oriented in a certain way (in other words, the rider must rotate the elongate member and/or tip so that they were positioned properly for engaging with the ground). Further, the devices were only effective at certain speeds and when placed at certain angles relative to the ground. When used outside of these acceptable parameters, the prior art devices do not establish adequate contact with the ground and maintain this contact throughout the rider's pushing motion. In other words, the rider's range of motion is limited and the effectiveness of their ‘push’ is also limited.